Lock-down shirt button tab



Oct. 31, 1967 N. 0. WHITE 3,349,410

LOCK-DOWN SHIRT BUTTON TAB Filed Dec. 16, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet l :ElE L INVENTOR NORMAN 0. WHITE B Wed M M ATTORNEYS Oct. 31, 1967 N. 0. WHITE 3,349,410

LOCK-DOWN SHIRT BUTTON TAB Filed Dec '16, 1966 a Sheets-Sheet 2- ElE- E INVENTOR NORMAN 0. WHITE BY Z/ovJ M ATTORNEYS Oct. 31, 1967 N. 0. WHITE 3,349,410

LOCK-DOWN SHIRT BUTTON TAB Filed Dec. 16,1966 3 Sheets-Sheet s ElE- 7 ENTOR NORMAN WHITE BY W ATTOR N EYS United States Patent 3,349,410 LOCK-DOWN SHIRT BUTTON TAB Norman 0. White, 3424 Cherry Lane, Fort Wayne, Ind. 46804 Filed Dec. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 602,228 4 Claims. (Cl. 2-229) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for connecting the lower portion of a shirt to the upper portion of trousers Comprising a member secured to the inner panel of the fly opening in the trousers and having one or more button holes therein for detachably receiving a button on the lower, front portion of the shirt.

This invention relates generally to a lock-down shirt button tab, and more particularly to a simple means for connecting the lower, front portion of a shirt to the upper, front portion of trousers.

Many means and devices have been proposed for holding a shirt in position relative to trousers, thereby preventing the tail of the shirt from creeping upwardly from its position within the trousers, and the button line of the shirt from creeping laterally from side to side relative to the central fly opening in the trousers. The present invention is distinguishable from the prior art in that means are provided for connecting the lower portion of a shirt to the upper portion of trousers in a manner which is simple, inexpensive and, yet, adequate for the purpose intended.

The connecting means of the present invention can be easily added to trousers presently being manufactured without requiring any redesign or modification of the trousers. By using a preferred form of the present invention, a shirt may be resiliently connected to trousers, thereby providing the wearer of the shirt and trousers considerable flexibility of movement without causing unsightly wrinkles and bulges in either the shirt or trousers.

It is an object of thepresent invention, therefore, to provide an improved means for connecting the lower portion of a shirt to the upper portion of trousers, thereby preventing the tail of said shirt from creeping upwardly within said trousers and the button line of said shirt from shifting laterally with respect to the central fly opening in the trousers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a connecting means which is arranged resiliently to connect the lower portion of the shirt to the upper portion of the trousers.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a simple tab or tape having a button hole disposed therein, the lowermost portion of said tab or tape being connected to the inside surface of the inner panel of a fly opening in trousers.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front view of a person wearing a shirt and trousers, the fly of the trousers being shown open to illustrate the connecting means of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of the lower portion of the shirt and the upper portion of the trousers shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged view illustrating one embodiment of the present invention wherein the inner panel of the fly opening in the trousers is connected directly to the shirt;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a tab utilized in another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of a fly opening in trousers showing a plurality of tabs, such as the tab in FIG. 4, attached to the inside surface of the inner panel of the fly opening;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, perspective view of another form of tab utilized in a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of a fly opening showing the tab of FIG. 6 attached to the inside surface of the inner panel of the fly opening.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the present invention can be visualized in conjunction with the following description.

In FIG. 1, typical trousers 10 and a typical shirt 12 are shown on the body of a person. The trousers 10 are provided with a central fly opening, indicated generally by the reference number 14, which is defined by a longitudinally extending outer panel 16 and a longitudinally extending inner panel 18 which are arranged to be detachably connected in an overlapping relationship by a zipper 20 and a hook 22 on the outer panel 16 cooperating with an eye 24 on the inner panel 18. The zipper 20, hook 22 and eye 24 are clearly seen in FIG. 3.

The shirt 12 is provided with a row of buttons 26 which connect the front panels 28 and 30 of the shirt 12. It can be seen that the row of buttons 26 is desirably substantially aligned with the fly opening 14. The inner panel 18 of the fly opening 14 is shown folded open in FIG. 1 to expose a plurality of apertures or button holes 34, at least one of which is arranged to receive one of the buttons 26 on the shirt 12, thereby connecting the shirt 12 to the material in which the apertures 34 are provided.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, one embodiment of the present invention will be discussed. In this embodiment, a plurality of button holes is provided formed in the inner panel 18 of the fly opening in the trousers 10. The wearer of the trousers 10 and shirt 12 can simply place one of the buttons 26 on the lower portion of the shirt 12 into one of the button holes 34, as shown in FIG. 3, and thereby connect the shirt to the trousers. When the zipper 20 is closed and the hook 22 is received in the eye 24, the outer panel 16 will completely cover the button 26 which is received in one of the button holes 34.

Of course, the three button holes 34 are provided so that the wearer of the trousers 10 and shirt 12 may select and insert a button 26 into the button hole 34 which provides the proper tension on the shirt, and it will be readily understood that fewer or more button holes 34 may be provided. As viewed in FIG. 3, the button holes 34 are positioned along a line to the right of and parallel with the half of the zipper 20 which is connected to the inner panel 18 of the trousers 10.

As clearly seen in FIG. 2, the trousers 10' are also provided with a tab 36 having a button hole 38 therein, the tab being conventionally attached to the inner panel 18. The button hole 38 is arranged to receive and be detachably connected to a button 40 disposed on the inside surface of the trousers 10 just to the right of the outer panel 16 as viewed in FIG. 2. The button holes 34 and 38 are formed in a conventional manner by providing a slotted aperture in the material and stitching about the periphery of the aperture.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, another embodiment of the present invention will be discussed. In this embodiment, individual tabs 46, each of which has a button hole 48 provided therein, are connected to the inside surface of the inner panel 18 as seen in FIG. 5. Preferably, each tab 46 is directly connected at its lowermost end to the inside surface of the inner panel 18 by stitching as indicated generally by the reference number 50. Of course, other means which are well known in the clothing industry can be used to connect the tabs 46- to the inner panel 18. The tabs 46 are preferably placed in a row extending longitudinally along the inside surface of the inner panel 18 as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the wearer simply chooses the tab 46 which can be comfortably connected to the shirt button 26. Again, more or less than the three tabs 46 illustrated may be employed.

The shape of the tabs 46, which is clearly seen in the enlarged view of FIG. 4, is such that a button can be easily inserted into and removed from the button hole 48 by the wearer of the trousers 10. That is, the uppermost portion 52 of each tab 46 will extend well above a button which is received in the button hole 48 and will be, therefore, easy to grip and pull away from the button. Of course, sufficient material is left around the button hole 48 to provide the necessary strength. The tab 46 can be made out of any relatively strong material which is commonly used as straps in clothing. It may be preferable, however, for the tabs 46 to be made from an elastic material, thereby resiliently connecting the shirt 12 to the trousers 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be discussed. In this embodiment, a single tab 54 having a plurality of button holes 56 therein is attached to the inside surface of the inner panel 18. Specifically, the lowermost end 58 of the tab 54 is stitched to the uppermost end of an elastic strap 60 and the lowermost end of the elastic strap 60 is stitched directly to the inside surface of the inner panel 18. The stitching between the tab 54 and strap 60 is indicated by the reference number 62 and the stitching between the strap 60 and the inner panel 18 is indicated by the reference number 64. The tab 54 and strap 60 extend longitudinally along the inner panel 18. Of course, the plurality of button holes 56 are provided so that the wearer may select one which is more comfortable to him.

In all of the embodiments shown and discussed, the tab or tabs which are to be connected to the shirt button are disposed on the right-hand side of the trousers and on the inside surface of the inner panel of the central fly opening in the trousers and outwardly of the half of the zipper which extends along the inner panel. Thus, when the central fly opening is closed and the two halves of the zipper are brought together, the connecting means of the present invention is completely covered by the outer panel of the central fly opening.

While there have been described above the principles of this invention in connnection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Means for connecting an upper garment to a lower garment, said upper garment being of the type which has a lower portion and a button fastened thereto, said lower garment being of the type having a fly-opening therein, said fiy-opening being defined by elongated inner and outer panels, said fiy-opening panels being adapted to be connected in an overlapping relationship with said inner fly-opening panel being adjacent to said lower portion of said upper garment thereby to close said fiy opening, said inner fly-opening panel having a plurality of spaced-apart button holes directly associated therewith, said button holes being aligned in a row extending longitudinally of said inner fly-opening panel, one of said butt-on holes being in substantial registry with said button, said button holes each being adapted to allow the passage of said button therethrough and to prevent said button from unintentionally passing therethrough, said button holes being hidden from view by said outer flyopening panel when said panels are in said overlapping relationship and said fiy-opening is closed.

2. The connecting means as in claim 1 further comprising an elongated tab having said button holes therein, said tab being stitched at its lowermost portion directly to the inside surface of said inner fly-opening panel, said tab extending longitudinally of said inner fly-opening panel.

3. The connecting means as in claim 2 wherein a portion of said tab is made from a resilient material.

4. The connecting means as in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of tabs, each of said tabs having at least one of said button holes therein, each of said tabs being stitched at its lowermost portion directly to the inside surface of said inner fly-opening panel, said tabs being spaced-apart and aligned in a row, extending longitudinally of said lower fly-opening panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,752,217 3/ 1930 Wenstein 2325 1,997,703 4/1935 Stepanian 277 X 2,021,098 11/1935 Craig 2234 2,663,026 12/ 1953 Arnold 2229 3,039,115 6/1962 Krupin 2229 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

H. H. HUNTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. MEANS FOR CONNECTING AN UPPER GARMENT TO A LOWER GARMENT, SAID UPPER GARMENT BEING OF THE TYPE WHICH HAS A LOWER PORTION AND A BUTTON FASTENED THERETO, SAID LOWER GARMENT BEING OF THE TYPE HAVING A FLY-OPENING THEREIN, SAID FLY-OPENING BEING DEFINED BY ELONGATED INNER AND OUTER PANELS, SAID FLY-OPENING PANELS BEING ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED IN AN OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID INNER FLY-OPENING PANEL BEING ADJACENT TO SAID LOWER PORTION OF SAID UPPER GARMENT THEREBY TO CLOSE SAID FLY OPENING, SAID INNER FLY-OPENING PANEL HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED-APART BUTTON HOLES DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, 